China faces uphill energy-saving drive

To Bejing opera singer and law-maker Liu Changyu, the bright lights that Premier Wen Jiabao wants to dim are a sign of China’s progress, and need to stay on.

More serious opposition to Wen’s plan to reform the country’s energy-guzzling ways will likely come from local officials and entrenched economic interests in affected sectors from steel smelting to real estate.

But Liu’s reservations are a reminder of the complex obstacles facing leaders who are trying to back away from a mantra they have been promoting for nearly three decades — of economic growth at almost any cost.

..A net exporter of oil until 1992, China now imports more than 40 percent of its needs. Acid rain falls in more than a third of the country and air pollution is linked to some 400,000 deaths a year.

..Politicians preoccupied with social stability need to create around 9 million jobs a year to keep the growing population employed and manufacturing remains the base of the economy, much of it in such energy-thirsty sectors as steel and aluminium.

AlertNet